The Warriors of Ra
by Templarlady
Summary: Follows on from my first story "The Cure". Bill and Alex get into trouble with an anti-vampire hate group.
1. Chapter 1

The character of Bill Compton belongs to Charliane Harris and Alan Ball - all other characters originate in my warped imagination.

THE WARRIORS OF RA

Bill and I had been back from Amsterdam for a few weeks when he told me one night that he had to go up to London for a meeting with Charles Montague. He would be away for a few days and, to be quite honest, I was glad of the chance to cease my almost nocturnal existence and let my body clock get back to normal for a few days. Since our return from the conference we had been together almost every night and if it were not for the fact that I had to go to work, I would have probably moved in to Bill's house since I spent most of my time there anyway!

Bill, however, had spent a considerable amount of his time on the telephone or on Skype in his study talking with Montague's assistants about his new appointment as Sheriff of the area. I had no idea what this appointment would entail and Bill and I did not talk about it much, but I gathered from general conversation that it was not something that most people would even be aware of. Although it was not a big secret, most humans were entirely unaware of the nuances of vampire society and were happy to remain in ignorance. Humans in positions of authority such as the Police and those involved in both local and national politics were apparently kept informed but the average man in the street had no idea of the complex web of allegiances that held their undead neighbours in check.

I had, so far, had no involvement with Bill's new position other than the fact that I had been in the house on a few occasions when a stream of other vampires had arrived to pay their respects to the new sheriff. I had kept well out of the way, usually curling up on a sofa upstairs with a good book while Bill entertained, only emerging after they had left to provide him with some much needed relaxation. On this particular night though, he appeared far from relaxed.

"What is it sweetheart?" I asked "is something wrong? Is that why you need to go all the way to London?"

"Oh no, not really" he said in a slightly distracted tone of voice "It's just that we need to discuss some rather unpleasant hate groups that have sprung up recently. It's not a particularly pleasant subject, and certainly not one that should be dealt with over the phone or a video link."

"Hate groups?" I said "what kind of hate groups?" Bill seemed reluctant to talk about this with me but I persisted. "You're talking about anti-vampire groups right, people that oppose vampire rights, stuff like that? Look, if I'm going to be with you don't you think I ought to know about this sort of thing?"

Bill sat down on the couch next to me and took my hand. "I'm sorry precious" he said quietly "It's just that some of these groups are very unpleasant, I cannot bear the thought that you might be involved with them in any way."

"Don't they just all hate vampires?" I asked.

"That's basically pretty much it yes, but they are all slightly different. The majority are offshoots of various church groups, their objections to us are religious in nature. That we are not natural, soulless monsters, servants of the devil, that kind of thing." Bill looked at me with an pained expression. "The main group of this type in the US is The Fellowship of the Sun. It's a church group founded by the Rev Newlin and carried on by his son Steve Newlin after his death, which I'm sorry to say was arranged by a nest of vampires in Dallas." Bill sighed "Of course his father's murder only made Rev Steve Newlin even more determined to wipe us out. They sponsor a college known as the Light of Day Institute to train up more young people in their message."

"Don't most churches disapprove of vampires?" I asked.

"Some don't" Bill said "They take the pragmatic view that if we exist then we must be part of God's plan. If he didn't want us to exist, then we wouldn't. Seems a reasonable point of view to me!" He smiled at me. "But you're right in principle, most churches are basically anti-vampire."

"But there are others." I said

"Yes, there are groups which have no religious affiliation. Their hatred of vampires appears to be mainly based on their fear of us, which in some respects is not unreasonable, but they can be very extreme in their views, and they cannot, or will not, accept that at least some of us are no longer a threat to humans. To them, every vampire is a dangerous savage monster who has to be destroyed in order to safeguard humanity. Ironically, their very existence means that many vampires feel the need to behave, on occasion, like the very monsters they fear in order to protect themselves."

"Are there any based locally?" I asked.

"Not specifically, there are numerous groups based in the UK and Europe, mostly churches of some kind. The main secular group has taken a lead from us, in fact. You know that the vampire owned airline is named after Anubis the Egyptian God who was the guardian of the dead? Well, they have named themselves after the Egyptian Sun God "The Warriors of Ra". The sun always seems to be involved somewhere, "The Fellowship of the Sun", "The Army of the Light", The Sons of the Light"...for obvious reasons!"

He slipped his arm around me and pulled me closer. "They also hate and despise anyone who associates with vampires, those who work for them and those who choose to spend time with them for...other purposes" he leaned in and brushed his lips across mine. I slipped my hand behind his head and pulled him to me for a deeper, more satisfying kiss.

"Oh, you are a bad girl," he laughed "you would be a classic target!"

"Exactly" I said seriously "which is why I need to know about them."

Bill sighed "I know" he said "I've been trying to keep you out of this business as much as I can, but your association with me is bound to become known to them sooner or later, these people seem to have very efficient spy systems."

"We'll just have to be careful then won't we" I said pulling him back for another kiss. I slid my tongue between his cool lips and felt his fangs beginning to drop. I licked gently around them, something I knew Bill loved. He growled softly and slipped off the couch onto the rug, pulling me down on top of him.

"That feels so good" he murmured.

"I haven't done anything yet!" I laughed.

"You don't have to" he whispered to me "I love to feel your body against mine, so soft and warm. It feels as though my flesh is soaking up the heat from yours." I snuggled closer to him trying to wrap my body around his. "Come here" he ordered and reached down to the hem of my shirt, pulling it off over my head and burying his face between my breasts. He slid his hands up my back and unhooked my bra releasing my full, heavy breasts, which fell forward onto his face, one nipple perfectly positioned to be engulfed by his open mouth as he ran his hands back down to my bottom and locked me to him.

I braced my hands on the rug on either side of his head as he suckled on my breast, his tongue curling around the nipple, licking at it gently until it stiffened up in his mouth. "Your skin tastes so sweet" he whispered "like honey."

I pulled back from him and sat up, "So," I asked "what have you got in mind for me this evening?"

Bill lay flat on his back smiling up at me. "Do you remember what you said to me on New Years Eve, on this very rug?" he asked "You told me to use your body for my pleasure. So why don't you do the same thing with mine?"

I stared down at him in surprise. "Really?" I asked "would you like that?"

"Why don't you try it and see?" he suggested.

Hmmm…this could be fun! I began to unfasten the buttons on his shirt and tugged the shirt out of the waistband of his jeans. He sat up a little and pulled the shirt off over his head while I took the opportunity to bury my fingers in the dark hair on his chest. Trailing them down across his flat belly to the button on his jeans and unfastening that as well. I tugged at the waistband and Bill braced his bare feet on the floor and raised his hips obligingly so that I could tug the jeans down far enough for him to wriggle out of them. I stood up, kicked off my shoes and removed my own jeans and panties and then knelt astride his hips and looked down at him. He simply lay passively watching me.

This was a new experience for me, usually Bill took the lead and could even be quite aggressive at times, not that I minded, in fact I found it quite exiting but this was different. I leaned forward slightly and began to stroke the hair on his chest and stomach, dragging my fingertips further and further down his body until they were buried in the thicker hair between his thighs. I bent forward to kiss him and as I did so I felt his sizeable erection rub gently between my legs. "Oooohh….that was nice!" I murmured and, giving his soft lips a final kiss, I sat up again and contemplated my next move. I shifted forward slightly until his stiff shaft was resting against my stomach and began to rub it gently against my warm skin. Suddenly I had a thought. "What did you say my skin tasted of?...Honey?" Now there's an idea. I stood up "You stay right there!" I ordered and headed into the kitchen.

"What the...!" Bill called after me "get back here at once! You can't just leave me like...like this!" I could hear him laughing as I reached into one of the kitchen cupboards for the jar of honey I had brought to put on my toast. I was back in seconds and knelt astride his hips again. "Now then!" I scooped a little honey out of the jar with my finger and put it in my mouth, "mmmm...delicious!"

Bill watched wide-eyed as I sucked the honey from my finger and pulled it slowly out from my mouth. "Right" I said regarding him mischievously "Lets see if I can make my tasty vampire a little tastier shall we?"

"What the devil are you..." I scooped some honey out of the jar and smeared it along Bill's thick shaft before he could stop me. "Hey!" he began to wriggle under me "that tickles!"

"You keep still now!" I told him "otherwise I won't be able to clean you up, now will I?" He froze instantly and lay almost motionless. I could just feel him trembling slightly with anticipation as I bent my head and began to lick off the honey. I watched out of the corner of my eye as his hand which lay on the rug by his hip began to twitch and then grabbed convulsively at the rug, digging his fingers into the fur. By the time I had carefully removed every last trace of the honey he was lying with his head thrown back, his hands clutching at the rug, desperately fighting the urge to grab hold of me.

"That's a good boy!" I said, in a particularly patronising tone of voice.

He opened his eyes and glared at me. "You're playing with fire here girl, you know that?" I put my hand on his chest and I could feel him shaking with laughter. I curled my hand around him and raised myself up on my knees far enough to push the head of his shaft between my lips, which were by now sufficiently wet to make it easy.

"Mmmmm...that feels good" I said pulling myself up off him again. He gave a frustrated little cry and pushed up at me with his hips trying to get back inside me.

"Naughty, naughty! I thought I was supposed to be in charge here?" I said as I began to rub the head of his shaft along my wet lips, "you know", I said conversationally, watching his fingers grasping at the fur "you're going to need a new rug sweetie, this one'll be bald soon at this rate!" At this Bill's iron self control snapped and he reached up for my hips and pulled me down onto him with a gasp. "Oh God, that's better!" he groaned as he pushed up, filling me up completely. I forced my face into a disapproving expression and looked down at him with a frown.

"Okay, okay...I know, you're in charge! Just take it from here...please?" he begged, holding on to my hips firmly to ensure that I didn't escape him again. In response I began to rock myself back and fore on him and discovered that I could, in fact, control the sensations myself by altering the pressure and the angle of my movements. I also discovered that I could sense Bill's increasing arousal and I timed my movements to match. Very soon I had driven us both up to peak of pleasure that I had never reached before, causing Bill to sit up with a cry, clasp my shaking body in his arms and, surprisingly gently, slide his fangs into my throat, driving both of us over the edge.

A few days later I was sitting on the couch in Bill's lounge, reading. Bill had left for his meeting in London the night after what I thought of as "the honey incident" and was due back later that evening.

Suddenly I heard a slight noise. I sat up and put down my book, noises were unusual at Bill's place. He had no immediate neighbours and lived at the end of a long driveway so there was no passing traffic. I got up, went into the kitchen and looked out of the window. There was a black van in the yard outside, I didn't recognise it, or the man who got out of it while I watched. He was about six feet tall with dark curly hair and as I watched three other men got out of the back of the van and began to move around the house. None attempted to come to the front door, they just took a quick look around and headed for the back. This wasn't good!

I noticed a sticker on the rear bumper and peered cautiously out of the window while trying to stay out of sight. It was a picture of a stylized sun with the words "The Warriors of Ra" over it. This was, in fact, very bad!

They were from that group that Bill had told me about, and they were obviously aware of the fact that a vampire lived in this house. Since it was still daylight I could only assume that they hoped to find Bill asleep...and do what? Kidnap him? Kill him?

So what would they do when they found that Bill wasn't here? What would they do if they found me?

With my mind buzzing with questions I only knew that I had better get out of there, and fast, but how? One of the four had come back to the van and was watching the front door. As I stood wondering what to do I heard a crash as one of the terrace windows was broken and then I heard voices in the lounge.

"Do you think he's here?" asked one.

"No idea, but we'd better search the place and fast...it'll be dark soon."

"What about the girl?" asked a third voice.

"What girl? asked the first voice.

"Jeez... don't you ever listen to the briefings Stan? The sheriff has a human girlfriend, she might be here." hissed the second voice, who appeared to be in charge.

"Well" said number three "what if she is. What do we do with her?"

A good question...I listened carefully for Mr Second's answer.

"Hey, she's all yours lads! Any woman who goes with a vamp is fair game, the bitch has betrayed her own race, you can have her if you want her."

Okay, I was really in trouble now! I pressed myself up against the kitchen wall hoping that the frantic pounding of my heart wouldn't attract unwanted attention and listened to them moving about in the lounge and dining room. I peeped around the wall into the hall and saw a dark shape through the glass of the front door. The fourth man was still there, there was no escape that way.

Then, as I peered out into the hallway, I noticed the closet at the back. Of course! Bill's safe room! why hadn't I thought of that before? I'd been concentrating on how to get out, but now I realised that I could lock myself in instead. I took a quick look around, the three men in the house were concentrating on the dining room but they wouldn't be long in there. I screwed up my courage, dashed across the hall to the closet and jumped in closing the door behind me.

I felt around the back wall for the panel and felt it slide across as I pressed it, but it was very dark with the door closed and I could just barely see the steps. I crept carefully down, sliding the panel back behind me. It was now pitch dark and I wondered how on earth I was going to work a keypad which I couldn't actually see. It was alright for Bill...he could see in the dark! I felt in my jeans pocket...yes! my phone! At last something was going right. I switched it on and examined the keypad in the light from the screen. Offering up a prayer that I could remember the combination, I pressed the six numbers...nothing happened.

I leaned against the door feeling sick with fear for a moment, then I got a grip on myself, took a deep breath and wiped my sweating hands on my jeans. Now don't panic Alex...try again calmly. I carefully entered the six numbers and, this time, I was rewarded by the slight rumble of the steel security door sliding back. I practically fell into the room and slapped my hand on the button inside. The door slid back into place with an audible and very solid "thunk". I slid down onto the floor and sat for a moment feeling relief wash over me, my legs felt as if they had turned to jelly and were quite unable to hold me upright.

After a moment I got up and switched on the light. Now what should I do? Call Bill? He'd be asleep but I could leave a message for him. I looked at my phone...no signal. Damn it! I should have realised that, the room was built into the side of the hill. That meant that my back up plan of calling the Police was no use either. I'd simply have to wait until Bill returned, although I couldn't bear the idea of those thugs trashing Bill's house and I didn't want him to walk in with no warning.

I sighed and sat down on the bed, and as I did so I noticed something I hadn't seen before. There was a phone on the bedside table! A land line! It must be an extension of the house phone. I picked it up and heard a dialling tone. With trembling fingers I called Bill's personal number and heard his familiar cool voice on the line "This is Bill Compton, I'm not available right now but please leave a message and I'll get back to you." Oh I certainly hoped so! "Bill!" I hissed "There are four guys in the house, they broke in through the terrace, they're from those "Warriors of Ra" you told me about. I'm ok, I'm in the safe room but you need to get home as soon as you can, I'm just going to call the Police as well." I hung up and dialled 999, the emergency number, something I'd never had to do in my life before.

"Fire, Police or Ambulance?" asked the operator. "Police!" I said "and quickly!" There was a click and a new voice came on "How can I help you?"

"Four men have just broken into the house" I said frantically "I need you to send help, right now."

"Can I have your name please miss?"

"Alexandra Morgan, what difference does that make! Listen the address is..." I got out the first two lines of the address before I realised that the line had gone dead. I stared at the phone in horror, they must have cut the line upstairs. These guys were really serious. Worse, I had no idea if the police had got the address or not. Well, I'd done all I could. I just had to hope that they wouldn't find the safe room or, if they did, that they wouldn't be able to get in. I was fairly sure that they wouldn't be able to break in, the door was about four inches thick, but I was still terrified anyway. I curled up on the bed and settled down to wait.

Despite my fear I must have dozed off as the next thing I knew I suddenly heard a noise at the door. I scooted back to the far wall in a panic and held my breath as the door slid open to reveal Bill.

"Alex?" he called his voice harsh with shock "are you okay?"

"Bill! Oh thank God!" I leapt off the bed and threw myself at him. He caught me and hugged me so tight I could hardly breathe, but I didn't care, I was safe in his arms at last.

"What happened?" he asked "are you sure you're not hurt?"

I looked up at him. His face was dark with anger and his fangs were extended further than I had ever seen them. He looked absolutely furious and absolutely terrifying.

"How dare they come here and threaten you! Did they know you were here?"

"They knew it was a possibility, I heard them talking about it but I don't think they knew for certain. I don't think they saw me get down here. It was you they were after." I said, my voice slightly muffled as Bill clutched me to his chest and gently stroked my hair.

"What did they say?" he asked "I mean, about you?"

"Well..." I was reluctant to tell Bill what I'd heard, he was quite angry enough already.

"Don't bother to tell me" he said shortly "I can imagine, I've read their pamphlets and that vile filth they publish on their websites."

Suddenly he stiffened and raised his head, listening. A moment later I heard it too, sirens coming up the hill. "You called the Police?" he asked.

"Well, yes...I...I didn't know what else to do, but they cut the phone line while I was talking to the operator and I wasn't sure they got the address. I'm sorry, was that wrong? Oh no...you haven't...?"

Bill hugged me closer to him. "Oh my poor darling" he said "you must have been terrified. It's all right, they're alive...just." He held me in one arm and drew me towards the stairs. "Come on, you're safe now."

He escorted me up the stairs and into the hallway. The front door was hanging open, broken off the hinges and I could see that the black van was still outside. The man who had been guarding the front door was now lying sprawled across the far end of the hallway, unconscious. He appeared to have been flung through the door with sufficient force to slam him against the far wall.

I looked through the archway into the lounge and saw the other three "warriors" lying up against the wall. One appeared to be unconscious and the other two were evidently too terrified of Bill to make a move. One was holding what was obviously a broken arm and the other's right ankle was twisted at an alarming angle.

At that moment there was a squeal of brakes, tyres and gravel and three policemen burst in through the broken front door. Bill spun round instinctively and snarled at them, fangs bared and they all stopped dead in their tracks. For a moment we just stared at each other and then I suddenly realised what this must look like to them. A young woman who had called the police for help, being held in the arms of a viciously snarling vampire.

"Hold it everyone, Bill would you let me go please?" I said quickly before the police could react. I could feel his reluctance, but he let go of me and stepped back, retracting his fangs with an audible "click".

At this everyone appeared to relax a little. One of the policemen tore his eyes away from Bill with an effort and turned to me. "Are you Miss Morgan?" he asked.

"Yes, that's right" I said.

"You made an emergency call, saying that someone had broken into the house and you needed help?" he glanced back at Bill.

"No, not him!" I said in an exasperated tone "these four" I gestured at the four warriors lying in various positions around us.

"Right" he said doubtfully "well, it doesn't look as if they'll be going anywhere for a while." He turned back to Bill. "Would you mind explaining who you are sir, and what you're doing here?"

Bill sighed, I guess he was used to the constant suspicion but I was getting seriously annoyed by it. "My name is Bill Compton" he said patiently, "and this is my house."

I watched as the other two policemen moved over to check the injured warriors, one using his radio to call for an ambulance.

"Miss Morgan was here when they broke in" explained Bill "and she called me immediately before contacting the Police. As soon as I got her message I came straight here, I would have expected you to be here first actually" he said in a slightly accusing tone of voice. "What took you so long? She could have been seriously hurt!"

"Well..." said the first Policeman.

"Could I have your name?" asked Bill politely.

"Anderson sir, Inspector Anderson. We didn't quite get the full address before the call was cut off."

"The call was cut off because the intruders cut the line!" said Bill, clearly struggling to keep his temper. "So how did you get here?"

"One of your neighbours called us in sir," said Anderson, now seriously flustered. "He was walking his dog and thought he heard glass breaking. May I ask what happened to the intruders?"

Bill glared at the Inspector, now clearly annoyed. "I arrived to find a strange van in my driveway and this gentleman" he gestured at the man lying in the hallway "outside my front door. As I approached he attacked me with this" Bill walked over to the fallen warrior, reached behind him and pulled out a piece of wood about three feet long with a jagged point which appeared to have been broken off from the fence outside. "I took it off him and threw him through the front door!"

He took a deep breath "You have to understand, Inspector, that these people not only hate my kind, but any who associate with us. I was seriously concerned for Miss Morgan's safety."

"And who exactly are "these people" sir?"

Bill looked surprised "Didn't you see the bumper sticker on the van?" he asked. "The Warriors of Ra."

One of the other officers looked up at this. "Oh, I've heard of them Sir!" he said "There's some seriously nasty stuff on their websites. Very anti-vampire and anti...well, anyone who disagrees with them basically. Some horrible stuff about what they would do to anyone who assists vampires, particularly women who ... oh..." his voice tailed off as his eyes slid over to me.

"Quite!" said Bill sharply "So you can understand why I would be concerned Inspector? That these men had broken into my home, where my girlfriend was staying, alone!"

"I see sir" said the Inspector.

At this point the man with the broken arm staggered to his feet and approached the policemen. "Why are there only three of you?" he asked angrily "You'll need more than that to take him down, he's a monster, look what he did to us!"

"And what would that be sir?" Anderson asked.

"He attacked us!" said the warrior indignantly.

"And how exactly did you get into his house sir?" asked the Inspector stepping into the lounge for a moment and regarding the damage with a practiced eye.

The warrior paused for a moment, "That whore of his let us in!" he said with a smirk. "She said she fancied a real man for a change!"

I could hear Bill's furious snarl from the other side of the hallway and I stepped in front of him and put my hand on his chest. "You know that's not true." I said quietly.

"I know." Bill said. I could feel the tension in his muscles as he held himself tightly in check, his instinct to rip the man to pieces fighting with his knowledge that he had to let the Police deal with this.

"Miss?" asked Anderson politely.

"I certainly did not let them in. I don't think they even knew I was here" I said.

"Of course we knew!" scoffed the warrior, getting more confident by the minute.

"Then where was I?" I asked him. "Where was I when Bill arrived?" He paused, and looked around him but it was obvious that he had no idea.

"Pete" said Anderson to the policeman who had said he had heard of the Warriors, "take him in the lounge with the other two and keep an eye on them until the ambulance arrives. Meanwhile, perhaps you'll tell me where you were Miss?"

Bill reluctantly waved a hand towards the hall closet.

"You were hiding in the closet?" he asked.

"No, not exactly" I said.

The third policeman came over and opened the closet door. He peered inside for a moment and then pulled a torch from his belt and shone it down the steps. "There's a whole suite of rooms down here sir" he said "with a pretty impressive security door!"

"Just as well, under the circumstances, wouldn't you say?" said Bill coldly.

"It would appear so" said Anderson with a sigh as, with a further crunching of gravel, an ambulance pulled up outside and two paramedics got out. "Right" he said to them as they stepped over the broken front door "I've got two men unconscious, one with a broken arm and another with a broken ankle. They will all shortly be under arrest, but in the meantime do what you can for them."

A chorus of complaints broke out from the lounge but Inspector Anderson ignored them and turned to Bill. "I'm afraid I'll have to ask you and Miss Morgan to come down to the station to make a statement."

Bill nodded "Of course."

Fortunately Inspector Anderson was not so harsh as to demand that we make a statement immediately, so we had the rest of the night to recover. The next evening we headed to the station in the company of a solicitor provided by Charles Montague. Bill had called him and explained what had happened, since the incident related, in a way, to his position as sheriff. He had professed extreme shock and assured us that he would do all he could to help and, sure enough, the next evening a car drew up in Bill's drive containing the extremely efficient Mr Stanwick. He asked us to go over all that had happened that night and listened carefully, without interrupting.

"What happened to the wooden stake the first man attacked you with Mr Compton?" he asked.

"It was hardly a stake" said Bill. "Just a piece of wood he had torn from the fence. The police took it with them, as evidence I assumed."

"If he had stabbed you with it, would it have killed you?" asked Stanwick.

"Well yes...I suppose so" said Bill.

"Then it's a stake. You'd be surprised at how much terminology can shape peoples' opinions! The other three, they came at you all at once?" he asked.

"Yes, that's right." said Bill.

"So, you did as little damage to them as you could, whilst defending yourself? I understand that there were no bite marks?" he asked delicately.

"No...I certainly did not bite anyone!" Bill sounded quite offended by the suggestion.

"Fine." Mr Stanwick snapped his briefcase shut and stood up. "Let's get this statement out of the way then shall we." he said cheerfully.

And it was, in fact, as simple as that. We arrived at the station and were introduced by Mr Stanwick, whose stress on Bill's title and position in the vampire hierarchy appeared to have a slightly intimidating effect on the counter staff. We were escorted into an interview room where we repeated our statements, they were recorded, typed up and we signed them and that was that. Obviously after viewing the information provided by Mr Stanwick from the website of "The Warriors of Ra" it had rapidly become obvious to the Police that Bill had had very good reason to be concerned for my welfare.

Unfortunately the vile rubbish they published had also managed to stir up the local press and when Bill and I eventually left the Station after several hours we found a group of photographers hanging around outside. To my intense embarrassment we were photographed numerous times and two or three reporters made a spirited attempt to interview Bill, but he simply swept me into the car saying "no comment" as Mr Stanwick fended off the keenest of the photographers.

Later that night Bill and I lay curled up together in his bed.

"We need to talk sweetheart, seriously" said Bill.

"Talk about what?" I asked.

"You remember what we discussed that night in the Hotel in Amsterdam? About the blood bond?" he asked, pulling me closer into his arms. "That if you had my blood, I would be able to feel you, sense your emotions?"

"Yes" I whispered "I remember."

"If I had not been such a coward, if we had exchanged blood that night, there would have been no need for you to call me, no need for you to worry about a cellphone signal, or someone cutting the line. I would have known that you needed me, I would have felt your fear and reached you sooner."

I smiled up at him "You couldn't have reached me any sooner Bill, it was daylight when they arrived, you got here as soon as it was possible, before the Police arrived." Bill sighed and looked away. "Don't you go beating yourself up over this!" I said sternly "this was not your fault and you did everything you could."

"How can you say that?" he asked turning to me with a pained expression "you know they would never have had any interest in you if it weren't for your association with me. You wouldn't even have been here at all….."

"You can stop that right now!" I said reaching up and taking his face between my hands. "You didn't force me to come here, I came of my own accord. "You might think of me as young, but I'm a grown woman Bill, I make my own decisions and I decided that I wanted to be with you." Bill blinked at me in surprise. "Did you think I didn't realise that being with you could be dangerous? that you could be dangerous?"

Bill lifted me up and held me in his lap "I swear I would never be a danger to you!" he said, he took my face between his hands and kissed me deeply and passionately. "I promise I would never knowingly harm you, or allow any harm to come to you through me!" He paused and gazed at me for a moment then appeared to make up his mind. "However there may be…..situations, in which I could be a danger to you." I opened my mouth to speak and he placed two long fingers across my lips. "No, wait a moment." He said "Let me try and explain. This is information you need to remember, seriously!"

I could see from his expression that he was very serious about this and so I sat back a little.

"There may be occasions when it would not be safe for you to be near me" he said.

"What? No you can't mean that!"

"I do mean it Alex, I am very serious about this, please listen." He looked extremely uncomfortable but carried on. "If I were to be injured, seriously injured, I know that you would wish to give me your blood to heal me but in those circumstances you would need to be very, very careful." He reached up to stroke my hair "You know that I would never knowingly harm you but if I was not fully conscious, then instinct would take over. My body would do whatever was necessary to heal itself. I could drain you…... even kill you, without ever knowing what I was doing. I could not live with myself if any harm came to you through me"

This was not something which had ever occurred to me or which I had ever even considered. I began to realise that Bill was right, there were so many things about him which I did not understand. "All right" I said quietly. "I promise to be careful." I shivered for a moment as I realised that I was sitting in the arms of a creature who really did have the potential to become a dangerous monster. Then Bill smiled gently at me and I knew that he meant what he had said, he would never knowingly harm me. I had always known he could be dangerous, I would just have to be careful, that was all. Hopefully the situation would never arise.

I reached for his hand and pulled it towards me. "So?" I asked. "Do you want to go ahead with this? I know you've not been sure about it before." I kissed the palm of his hand tenderly and waited for his decision.

"Yes" he said finally "I do. I know it can cause problems and it can be dangerous, but I can't bear the thought that you might need me and I wouldn't know." He sighed "Ideally I'd like to keep you out of the political sphere completely, but I know that's not going to be possible. Others will bring you in even if I don't." He leaned over and kissed me, then he lay down on his back and put his head back across the pillow baring the soft skin of his throat. "Go ahead." he said.

"What...you mean..."

"Yes," he turned his head and smiled at me "you can do this, believe me. Come on, kiss me" he instructed. Ok, I could do that. I leaned over his still form and kissed him my tongue sliding in between his cool lips. "There," he said "you see, you can take orders like a good little girl!"

"If you're trying to annoy me into biting you, you're going the right way about it!" I said. I felt his chest moving as he tried to suppress the laughter. "Come on...please!"

As I lay alongside him I suddenly realised that he wanted this...badly. His head was thrown back on the pillow and his jaw clenched in anticipation. For some reason it had never occurred to me that he would find being bitten, arousing. But he obviously did. Boy, I still had a lot to learn about vampires!

I screwed up my courage and began to plant little kisses down his neck and across his throat. He reached around me and pulled me closer pressing my body against him until I could feel that my earlier assumption about his intense arousal had been quite correct. I licked at the little hollow at the base of his throat and he groaned. "Oh, Alex...please!" I took a deep breath, sucked a piece of his cool, alabaster flesh into my mouth and bit down hard. He let out a gasp and I backed off at once, fearful that I had hurt him.

"No, no...please don't stop!" he moaned grasping me by the hair with his free hand and pulling my mouth back to his throat. I leaned in again and sucked hard on the little wound, feeling the thick sweet blood flow down my throat and as I did so my vision began to grow dark.

"Bill!" I cried, pulling back "I can't...I can't see...!"

Trust me" he murmured "it'll be alright."

I took another mouthful and then I was swimming in darkness, frightened and alone, but unable to pull away this time. I felt Bill's lips brush my neck and his fangs sank into my flesh and suddenly he was there, somehow. With me in the darkness, comforting me. I clung to him and drank deeper, the blood seeming to be the most delicious thing I had ever tasted. I began to rub my body up against Bill's like a cat, my breath coming in short gasps, feeling as though I was being controlled by some force, outside of myself and I realised that I was feeling Bill's increasing arousal. The taste of my blood had sparked a powerful, almost savage lust for me which overwhelmed my senses and threatened to short out my brain.

I wanted him, so badly... needed him, I felt that if I didn't feel him inside me I would simply die. "Oh Bill...!" I moaned, "please...now!"

He rolled over on the bed so that I was underneath him, with his fangs still buried in my throat, and drove himself into me, hard and deep. I took another mouthful of his sweet blood and felt my body writhing against him, drawing up my knees and flinging my legs around his hips. It was as if I was standing outside myself in the darkness, watching this happening to someone else. Bill was normally such a gentle and considerate lover but now he appeared to have been overtaken by an almost feral lust and I somehow understood that he was feeling my own enhanced arousal feeding back through the blood and increasing his own in a circle of passion which threatened to set us both on fire. We clung together, Bill thrusting powerfully into me driving my pleasure higher and higher with each long stroke until, with a snarl he reached an explosive climax, shattering my awareness into tiny pieces which seemed to float away into the darkness.

We lay for a while, locked together, dazed by our mutual passion. Bill's gradually softening shaft was still buried inside me and I wound my legs around him, holding him in place, never wanting to let him go. After a moment he rolled off me and held me against him, lying on his side.

"Are you all right?" he asked softly "did I hurt you?"

"Well yes, a little" I whispered, unable to raise my voice any louder.

"Oh no...oh my darling...!"

"I didn't care, I wanted you to" I gasped "I felt that if you stopped I would just die!" I ran my fingers through his hair and smiled at him. "I've never felt anything like that before...that was caused by the blood?"

"I did try to warn you" he smiled back at me and took me in his arms, laying me down carefully on my back. "Are you in pain?" he asked gently.

"Just a little sore," I said "I think I'll live!" I looked around the room in a slightly dazed manner. "Have you put some more lights in here?" I asked.

Bill smiled at me "No" he answered "You are just able to see better in the dark now.

The blood has other effects you know, its not entirely sex!" he laughed. "You will be healthier, stronger, faster, heal quicker and your senses will be enhanced somewhat as well."

"Wow!" I struggled to sit up and Bill lifted me gently and propped me up against a pile of pillows. "Well, I hope you enjoyed that half as much as I did." I said.

"It was wonderful!...your body felt as if it was on fire for me." he whispered, snuggling up against me. "And the taste of your blood was like a waterfall of sparks flowing through my dead veins."

"Is the effect permanent?" I asked.

"No, it will wear off gradually...unless you have more of my blood." he laughed "And I have to say that any time you want to bite me again, you are very, very welcome!"

Some weeks later we were heading into town to attend the initial hearing for the four "warriors". It was not a major case, they were charged simply with breaking and entering, but due to the involvement of the new Vampire Sheriff and his girlfriend it was likely to cause a stir in the local press and Charles Montague, not satisfied with simply providing a solicitor, had decided to attend himself with some of his retinue.

The previous evening he had held a kind of "council of war" at Bill's house, accompanied by Gerry, Bill's old friend who I had met in Amsterdam, and two other vampires who had also attended the conference.

"Now, my sources tell me that there is to be a demonstration tomorrow outside the courtroom, by these "Warriors of Ra" he said, standing with his back to Bill's fireplace and addressing us sternly. "I want to make it clear that, whatever happens, there is not to be any reaction by us. You understand? Nothing at all, no matter what the provocation!"

"Of course" said Bill mildly "I've already made it clear to everyone in the district that, although they may attend if they wish, they are not to make any move against them."

"We will need to be very careful but, with luck, this could work out well for us. We have done nothing wrong, remember that. We should be able to hold on to the moral high ground for a change."

The next evening we set off in a convoy of vehicles into town. Since the Revelation most businesses had begun to stay open later to try to take advantage of our newest citizens and it appeared that even the Courts had to open later to accommodate cases where vampires were either the accused, the victims or even just witnesses.

When we arrived the demonstration was in full swing. There were the usual "rent-a-mob" types who always turned up when there was a possibility of trouble. But there were also representatives of genuine anti-vampire groups, complete with placards proclaiming the usual rhetoric. I saw several "God Hates Fangs" and "Vamps Kill" placards, looking very professional. I wondered if you could order them online or something. There was also, I was glad to see, a large contingent of Police.

Charles got out of his car and made a beeline for the small group of press who were being herded into a corner by the Police. As soon as we had arrived they had stopped taking photographs of the protesters and started on us. I noticed that there were even a couple of television cameras. I looked over to where Charles was holding court with a group of reporters. He appeared to be in the middle of a conversation and was laughing at something the reporter had just said to him. "You do understand that my friend Mr Compton is the victim here?" he asked "These four men broke into his house where Miss Morgan here" he gestured for me to step forward "was staying, alone, while Mr Compton was away." He pointed into the crowd of protesters. "As you can see from their placards they do not approve of humans who have anything to do with us and Mr Compton was, understandably, concerned for her safety. Besides, on his return they attacked him!"

Charles had placed his arm companionably around my shoulders and I looked around to see where Bill was when a movement in the crowd caught my eye. Two men were edging towards the front of the crowd, not chanting or shouting slogans, just moving purposefully forward. I slipped away from Charles and turned towards Bill, just in time to see one of the men pull a pistol from under his jacket and aim it at the vampire bodyguard standing next to Charles.

Before I could even think of doing anything he pulled the trigger and the vampire simply exploded in a fountain of blood. For a moment there was a stunned silence and then all hell broke loose. I turned towards Bill and saw the other man also pull out a gun and, to my horror, he was right in front of me!

He raised his arm and everything seemed to slow down. I heard the crack of the pistol shot and at the same time felt myself snatched backwards by the arm. I fell to my hands and knees in the road and looked up to see Bill right in front of me. His body was jolted backwards as the first bullet took him high in the shoulder. There was a series of sharp cracks and five more sprays of blood appeared down Bill's right side as the bullets spun him around and drove him to his knees before me. I had time only to see a glimpse of the pain in his eyes before he collapsed in the road and lay still. I flung myself on top of him, hoping to protect him from whatever else was out there in the crowd and listened to the panicked screams of the protesters and the yelling of the Police.

After what seemed like several hours, but was probably only a few minutes I felt hands lifting me up and I looked up at two burly policemen. "Are you hurt Miss?" asked one. "You're covered in blood!"

"It's not mine" I said numbly "It's his!"

"That looked deliberate to me" said the other policemen. "He stepped in front of you just as the guy began firing."

"Yes" I whispered.

"Will he be all right?" he asked. I stared at him blankly. "Well, I mean, he didn't just dissolve like the other one."

The policeman's words slowly penetrated my shocked brain. He was right! Bill wasn't dead, he was just injured! Badly, but he wasn't dead!

I staggered to my feet and looked around. The area before the courtroom was a mess of leaflets and broken placards. Two more policemen were holding the press photographers back behind a line of tape and Charles was standing beside a large pool of blood on the tarmac looking shocked, his expensive suit splashed with the blood of his ex-bodyguard.

I went over to him and took his arm. "Bill's not dead!" I said "We have to help him!"

He looked down at me and held out his hand. He was holding the gun from the man who had shot his bodyguard and there were a few bullets lying in his hand. "Look at these." He said. "Wooden, with silver cores. Those bastards meant to do as much damage as possible. If Bill had been hit in the heart he'd have ended up like Marcus here" he gestured at the pool of blood at his feet. "As it is the silver will be in his blood by now, he's as good as dead. It would be kinder to stake him now."

I glared at Charles furiously. "He just saved my life and now I'm going to save his, and you're going to help me."

"Now why would I do that?" he asked. "You, my dear are a nuisance and a distraction. He wouldn't have been hit at all if it wasn't for you!"

I took a deep breath and tried to remain calm, did he think I didn't know that! "Because you need him as your sheriff." I said.

He smiled "There are plenty of others I could appoint in his place."

"You think so?" I asked angrily "Take a look over there" I nodded towards the line of Police tape behind which stood the crowd of reporters and television cameras. "They just watched him take half a dozen bullets for me, any one of which would have killed me. They may even have it on video. Your sheriff is a hero! How do you think they'll react if you just let him die?"

"I'll just explain to them that he couldn't be saved."

"But I'll tell them he could!" Charles' eyes narrowed at this. "Don't think you can stop me…not in front of all these cameras."

"How do you know you can save him?" he asked.

"I've done it before." I said quietly. His eyes widened a little at this, but he showed no other reaction.

"What do you need me to do?" He asked.

"If I give him my blood while he's not fully conscious he may lose control, be unable to stop. I need you to control him."

"And why shouldn't I simply let him drain you my dear?" he asked with an evil little smile. "That way I'd get my sheriff back and you'd be out of the way. A win, win situation!"

"Because you need him as sheriff" I said coldly "and if you do that, you'll never have him. If he comes round and finds that he has killed me and you could have prevented it…..he will never, ever forgive you!"

Charles stared at me, his cold, flat eyes reminded me of those of a snake, "Careful now dear" he said "forever is a very long time for us."

"But you need him right now."

"Hmmm….." He regarded me thoughtfully for a moment. "He does seem to love you, doesn't he, and everyone loves a happy ending." He glanced over at the press behind the barriers, "an example of good human/vampire relations…useful publicity…..yes, that would work."

"You're a cold, calculating bastard aren't you?" I said.

He turned to me and gave me the most genuine smile I had ever seen from him. "Of course my dear, how do you think I have managed to survive this long? Come on, I'll help you."

We walked over to where Bill lay, pale and motionless. "Are you sure about this?" he asked. "We'll both look a bit foolish if it doesn't work or if you get seriously hurt."

"I'm counting on you to see that I don't!" I said "I can't be sure that it'll work, but I have to try."

"Very well." I held my arm out to him and he smiled and opened his mouth. When his fangs extended the press photographers suddenly noticed us and flashes began to go off as he raised my wrist to his mouth and bit down. As soon as his fangs had penetrated my wrist I tugged my arm away and he stood staring at me and licking his lips in the full glare of the press photographers. "My!" he said "you really are delicious aren't you! I'm beginning to understand what he sees in you. Charming, strong minded, intelligent…and tasty too!"

I sat down on the cold ground and pulled Bill's head into my lap. "Never mind the compliments" I said "just keep an eye on him!"

I positioned my arm so that my blood trickled over Bill's cold lips. At first there was no reaction, but then I felt him move and his lips parted slightly. I moved my arm so that the blood ran into his mouth and was rewarded by his tongue licking weakly at my wrist. "That's it" I murmured "good boy". Suddenly one hand grasped mine, hard, and the other grabbed my arm at the elbow, holding my wrist in place. He opened his mouth wider and bit down savagely into my arm. I gritted my teeth against the pain and looked up into Charles' eyes. "Never mind me" I grated "watch him."

"No," he replied "I'm watching you." He reached over and placed two fingers on my throat, feeling for my pulse, waiting for it to weaken. Bill's eyes were still closed but as I watched they began to flicker slightly.

"It's working!" breathed Charles. I looked up and saw Gerry running over to us.

"What on earth's going on here?"

"Shut up and get hold of him!" said Charles abruptly.

I was starting to feel faint when Charles took his hand away from my pulse, said "Right, that's enough" and took hold of Bill's shoulders, Gerry took his arms and between them, they began to pull him away from me.

I noticed, in a somewhat dazed fashion, that Charles moved his body slightly to block the photographers' view while he and Gerry struggled to prise Bill's fangs from my wrist. They pulled him off me and Charles stood up lifting me in his arms like a child.

There was an ambulance by the kerb where a couple of paramedics were tending to some of the protesters who had been injured in the panic and he walked over towards it. "Open your eyes dear" he said "we don't want the public thinking you're dead now do we? That would ruin my public relations efforts!" He went up to the two paramedics by the ambulance and gave them a big smile. The effect was somewhat spoiled by the fact that his long fangs were still stained with my blood. "Could I perhaps have a blanket?" he asked, setting me down carefully on the back of the ambulance.

The two paramedics, who had been standing and gaping at us with their mouths open, jumped into action and brought out a blanket which Charles wrapped around me tenderly, as though he actually cared. Damn he was good!

"How do you feel" he asked, looking carefully at the whites of my eyes.

"Oh, great" I said shakily "a couple of nice juicy steaks and I'll be just fine." He burst out laughing. "Oh yes, he's right about you!" he said.

I looked over to where Bill had staggered to his feet, helped by Gerry, and watched as he tried to make his way over to where I sat. Gerry called over another vampire who I didn't recognise and together they helped Bill over to the ambulance. He sat down next to me and put his arm around my shoulders. I leaned sideways and rested my head on his shoulder. "Are you okay?" I whispered.

"I will be" he answered, "thanks to you."

"What were you thinking of?" I said, as crossly as I could manage. "You could have been killed…...permanently!"

He laughed weakly. "You would certainly have been killed, and I could not allow that to happen. I promised you that no harm would come to you through me. And I meant it!"

"Oh Bill, honey…." I moved over into his open arms and he leaned down to kiss my forehead gently…there was a flash…..damn photographers!

Bill looked down at me "Please don't mention honey" he said weakly "somehow I'm just not in the mood."


	2. Chapter 2

Bill and I were sitting together in the back of the ambulance with my head resting on his shoulder. We were both exhausted, him due to his recovery from the bullet wounds and me from loss of blood. I had just finished explaining what had happened after he had been shot.

"You gave me your blood, after everything I told you? And now Charles knows what your blood can do!"

"I was able to give you my blood, **because **of everything you told me!" I said "Look Bill, there were only three options. I don't give you my blood, I let you die and I survive, I give you my blood and you survive and I don't or I get Charles to help and we both survive. Now I don't know about you, but option 3 seemed the best one to me!"

He hugged me closer and said "I'm sorry sweetheart, I don't want to seem ungrateful. You risked your life for me."

"No more than you did for me." I said "less in fact as I knew Charles would hold you back."

"How could you know that? You must know that you mean nothing to him. He might just have let you die."

"What, in front of all those cameras? No chance! It would have put a serious dent in his publicity drive! Besides, I threatened him!"

"You did what!" If possible Bill looked even paler for a moment.

"I told him that if he let me die, you would never forgive him. He needs you Bill" I lowered my voice "especially now."

"I would never have forgiven myself!" said Bill sounding shocked "but you're right, I wouldn't have forgiven him either. Even so, you took quite a risk."

"Don't you dare talk to me about risks!" I said "If any one of those bullets had hit you in the heart..."

He pulled me to him and kissed me softly, "Don't think about it." he said.

Charles came over to us and looked speculatively at Bill.

"Hmmm….you don't look too bad actually, all things considered." He said "Miss Morgan's blood must be more powerful than I thought."

He glanced across at me thoughtfully and Bill tightened his grip on me.

"Do you think you're up to speaking to the press?" he asked. "Apparently the TV cameras got the whole thing on tape. You're a hero!" He smiled happily. Somehow I thought his pleasure was due more to the good publicity than to any heroic action on Bill's part.

Bill sighed "Yes, I suppose so, do you know if...what on earth is that smell!"

I looked round and saw Gerry standing next to the ambulance with a big grin on his face and a large, flat box in his hands.

"Pizza?" I said excitedly "Oh Gerry! You're an angel!"

He smiled at me, I suspected that you'd be starving after...your efforts." He lowered his voice "I told them to leave out the garlic!"

I reached for a slice of pizza and smiled back at him. "Thanks!" Charles went off to talk to the TV crew and Gerry put the pizza box down within reach and followed him.

"Are you sure you're going to be all right?" I asked Bill, my voice slightly muffled by a mouthful of hot cheese.

"Yes, I'll be fine" he said, watching indulgently as I licked the cheese from my fingers. "Sorry...but I'm starving."

At this point Charles came back at the head of a small TV crew consisting of a cameraman, a sound engineer and a smartly dressed woman presenter who stared at Bill, open-mouthed. He was shockingly pale and, to be honest, looked less human than I had ever seen him before, and yet, somehow the stark pallor of his skin, combined with the intensity of his bright blue eyes only enhanced his beauty. He had taken off the bloodstained shirt and I had wrapped part of my blanket around him, for comfort more than anything else, since he did not feel the cold. There was a bright splash of blood down his right side from the shoulder to the waist, the colour showing up clearly against his alabaster skin and the top of his smart grey trousers were also soaked with his blood, although the bullet wounds themselves had healed.

Charles was telling her about Bill's position as sheriff and the reasons for the court case, all of which I was sure she knew already.

In a few moments the camera and sound equipment was ready and she turned to Bill.

"Mr Compton" she began "Perhaps you would tell us what exactly happened here tonight? Why were you and your friends here in the first place?" She held out a microphone towards Bill and he sat up a little straighter, but did not remove his arm from around my shoulders.

"A few weeks ago, while I was away on business my house was broken into" he explained. "By four men who were members of one of the groups that were demonstrating here tonight, The Warriors of Ra."

"So you were here for the hearing?" she asked.

"That's right." he said.

"You said you weren't in the house when they broke in? So how were they caught?"

"I was not in the house but Miss Morgan here was." Bill pulled me a little closer to him as the camera turned to me. Fortunately I had just put down the pizza! "She was alone in the house when they broke in. I don't know if you are familiar with these groups." he paused questioningly. "They are... how can I put it... antagonistic to humans who associate with our kind. Miss Morgan knows this and was, understandably, frightened by the thought that they might find her. Fortunately she was able to lock herself away from them and called me."

"She called you, rather than the police?" the interviewer asked.

"She called me and the police" said Bill. "When I arrived the man they had stationed at the door attacked me with a three foot long stake." I heard a gasp and looked around to find that we had attracted a small audience.

"What happened?" she asked.

"I disarmed him and threw him into the house, through the front door." said Bill calmly.

"The door was open?"

"No." There was another audible gasp. "He was knocked out when he hit the wall but otherwise he was fine." said Bill, a little impatiently "at the time I was more concerned about the other three."

"What did they do?"

"They also attacked me. There was..." he paused for a moment "a short scuffle. You will appreciate that I am considerably stronger than any human. I was able to subdue them and found Miss Morgan, unharmed." He smiled at the interviewer. "At that point the police arrived and arrested them."

"I had provided Mr Compton with the services of a solicitor and I and two friends accompanied him and Miss Morgan to the hearing tonight." said Charles. "I was talking to some of your colleagues when..." he paused.

"Someone in the crowd pulled out a gun and shot the vampire who was standing next to you" supplied the interviewer.

"Marcus" said Charles sharply. "His name was Marcus! and he had been a good friend to me for a very long time."

The woman looked a little abashed at this outburst, but she carried on. "The second gunman appeared to be aiming at you Miss Morgan?" she asked holding out the microphone.

"Yes, I think so" I said hesitantly "it all happened so fast!"

"Then Mr Compton pulled you out of the way and deliberately stepped in front of you." she said. "That much is quite clear from the tape. Why would you do that Mr Compton?"

"I didn't even think about it" said Bill. "I just knew that I couldn't allow her to be shot."

"You seem...recovered" she said. "Could you explain why one bullet was enough to destroy Marcus and yet you took half a dozen without too much damage?"

There was a laugh from behind us and the interviewer turned to Charles. "Oh he was damaged all right! Don't let his current condition fool you. He could easily have met the true death too." He held out his hand and showed the bullets to the camera.

"These bullets, as you can see, are specifically designed to kill vampires. They are made of wood, with a silver core" he explained. "If one hits the heart, as happened with Marcus, then the vampire will die immediately" he paused for a moment, "as you saw. However the silver alone is not enough to kill straight away, it will only weaken a vampire, although if enough silver enters the bloodstream it will kill him, slowly. This group boasts openly on their website that they use them to bring down a vampire so that he can be staked."

To her credit the interviewer looked shocked at this.

"So how were you healed so quickly Mr Compton?" she asked. She turned to me "the tape seems to show you cradling Mr Compton's head in your lap Miss Morgan. It isn't quite clear what was going on." I took a deep breath but Charles beat me to it.

"Miss Morgan was generous enough to give Bill her blood to help him to heal himself" he said.

There was a shocked silence. The subject of vampires feeding on humans was one which was almost never publicly mentioned, a subject which the vampire authorities did their best to avoid. Everyone knew that it happened, but no one was prepared to talk about it. It seemed that was about to change.

"Yes, that's right." I said "It seemed only fair, since he had just been shot while protecting me!"

The interviewer looked distinctly uncomfortable with this. "You let him feed on you?" she asked incredulously.

I gave an impatient little sigh. "Suppose it had been you who was shot." I said. " And you needed a blood transfusion. If I had the same blood type and was prepared to donate blood, would that be okay with you?"

"Well...yes, I suppose so," she said "but that's different..."

"Why?" I asked "What's different about me giving blood as a blood donor to save the life of a human and giving it directly to a vampire to save his? The only difference is that I've never even met you before and I owe you nothing, whereas Bill had just risked his life to save mine!" Bill tightened the grip of his arm around me. We both looked up at the interviewer innocently and waited for her next question.

"Right... um...so, you'll both recover I assume?" she asked, trying hard not to appear flustered on camera.

Bill gave her his most charming smile and said "Provided we can both get some rest and Alex can finish her pizza in peace, yes...we'll both be fine."

The woman seemed to understand that that was the end of the interview and began to gesture to her crew to pack up.

I heard a car pull up and turned to see four vampires getting out of a large black Lexus. Charles went over and spoke to them and I watched them stare in horror at the pool of blood which had been Marcus. Bill explained that they were four of the other sheriffs and Charles had arranged for them to take us back to his house and provide some security, together with a human security firm, for the next few days. Three of them came over to us and one, a young man with a shock of dark hair knelt down beside me.

"Hello Alex" he said with a smile, "I'm Louis, let me help you to the car."

He reached over, picked me up in his arms and began to carry me towards the Lexus. I looked over at Bill. He looked a little disapproving, but made no protest so I relaxed a little, watching as two of the other Sheriffs, a blond woman and a stocky bald man helped Bill stand up and walk to the car. He got in beside me and Louis and the blonde woman got in the front seats and started the engine.

"Wait a minute!" I said "Won't the Police want to see us? Take statements?"

"Leave all that to Charles, he's good at it!" said Bill leaning back with a sigh as he put his arm around me.

"But what about the gunmen? What happened to them?" I asked "Did they get away?"

"No! Don't worry sweetheart, luckily for them the Police got both of them."

"Luckily?"

Bill gave a short laugh. "If they had escaped Charles would have hunted them down and killed them both. Marcus was a good friend, believe me, he would have made them suffer before they died."

I went cold. Sometimes my gentle and charming Bill would say things which made my blood freeze, in such a normal tone of voice. He must have felt my unease as he turned to me with a sad little smile. "I'm so sorry precious" he said "I've tried so hard to keep you away from this, but it's not going to work is it?"

I sighed. "I think we're both out in the open now, don't you? We'll just have to deal with it."

Soon we were pulling into Bill's driveway and the sheriffs helped us both into the house and stationed themselves outside for the remainder of the night.

Bill downed a couple of bottles of Tru Blood before helping me downstairs to his safe room. I protested that I'd be fine in another room, that he needed to rest and heal properly but he wouldn't hear of it. In fact he insisted on giving me a few mouthfuls of his blood before we drifted off to sleep in each other's arms.

Since our impromptu interview outside the courtroom, which had not only been aired on local TV but also made it onto the internet, along with the footage of the shooting and its aftermath, Bill had been inundated with requests for interviews from journalists from the local and national press, all of which he refused. However, since he was now a public figure, at least one of the reporters was able to find out where he lived and they began to lay siege to his house.

After a few weeks of trying to avoid them he lost patience and began construction of a light tight area in my spare bedroom. It was a very basic wooden construction covered with blackout material, just large enough for a single mattress. The addition of a lamp and a stack of books made it snug and comfortable and he stayed at my place for a whole week until the reporters followed me home from work one day.

"This is getting ridiculous." Bill complained "we can't carry on like this. Something will have to be done."

"Give it time." I said "something new will happen to distract their attention and they'll lose interest eventually."

Bill wasn't happy with this but he confined himself to muttering crossly until one day, driving home from work I got a really bad scare.

I parked on Bill's driveway, got out of the car and walked, a little unsteadily, into the house. Bill was in the lounge, sitting on the couch with a book. He saw me come in, smiled and got up, taking my arm and leaning forward to give me a kiss. He paused "Alex? What is it, you're shaking. What's happened sweetheart?"

"Oh it's nothing" I answered "Just some idiot in a BMW who thought I shouldn't have pulled out in front of him even though there was plenty of room!"

Bill put his arm around me and pulled me down onto the couch next to him. "What happened? Are you all right?" he asked.

"Yes…..I'm fine." I assured him "Just a bit shocked. It was at the junction just down the road. Traffic was filtering on to the main road but he clearly thought that no one was allowed to get in front of him. He came careering around my car and cut me off, then stopped in front of me. He reversed right up to my car, opened the door and got out. He didn't really do anything just screamed at me and shook his fist, but it was quite scary!"

"Did you get his number?" Bill asked.

"Well, yes, but it's pointless reporting him, nothing happened really..." My voice tailed off and suddenly I burst into tears and clung to Bill, sobbing.

"Oh my precious," he said holding me tight "what is it? This isn't like you, not my brave girl!" He kissed me gently rubbing his hand soothingly across the small of my back as I struggled to get a grip on myself.

"Oh, Bill...I...I thought he was...you know...one of the warriors!"

"Sweetheart, you know the Police have arrested all of that group. They are being held in custody for their own protection. There have been several threats against them from vampire rights groups. Charles has condemned the threats of course, but I think he's secretly rather pleased!"

"Yes, I know all that. It's just that I'm constantly jumpy, what with all the reporters..."

"Right, that's it!" said Bill firmly.

"Bill, you know there's nothing you can do, unless they actually break the law – and they won't!"

But Bill was determined that he would not be bullied. He called Charles the next night to discuss the problem and Charles' solution was uncharacteristically straightforward. "Why don't you just give them what they want?" he asked. "I have contacts in the media and I could arrange for us to appear on a TV chat show to discuss the whole incident. After that's out in the open they wouldn't have so much reason to pursue you, would they?"

"A TV chat show!" I stifled a giggle at Bill's horrified expression.

"Why not, after all we have done nothing wrong here remember! We are entirely innocent – for once. This could be good for us Bill!" he urged. "We need some positive publicity!"

"Just the two of us?" Bill asked tentatively.

"Well, I don't know, I expect they'd want someone to give an alternative point of view. They usually do. I'll make some enquiries and get back to you."

"In the meantime." I said thoughtfully "I think I might know where we could go for a little break!"

"Really?" said Bill, brightening up a bit "Where?"

"Let me think about it." I said.

"Mmmm….very mysterious" said Bill "Come on, give me a clue?" He put his arms around me and pulled me to him for a kiss. "Please?"

"No! it'll be a surprise!" I insisted. "Don't think you can get round me like that." I said as I felt his hands sliding down my back.

"I can't?" he asked huskily "well….I think I'll try anyway, just in case!"

Several nights later I loaded a couple of bags, some supplies and a quietly protesting vampire into my car and we set off.

After a half hour or so I drove down a steep narrow country lane and came out above the banks of a canal. Below us was a small boatyard containing about twenty narrowboats tied up to pontoons in a small marina. Bill and I got out of the car and walked down to the boats. Since it was now about 4am the place was deserted, the office building locked up and the boats empty and silent in the moonlight. We walked along the nearest row of pontoons, past "The Empress Maud", "Galadriel", "Isis", "Aerys Targaryen", "Yellowhammer", "Tom Bombadil" and even "Erik".

I stopped at the fourth pontoon and put my hand on the rear cockpit of the boat moored there. "Here we are" I said with a smile "Bill, I'd like you to meet "Lady Eleanor" she's mine!"

Bill stared in amazement down the 68 foot boat and then looked back at me. "This is your boat?" he asked.

"Yep, all 15 tons of her" I said proudly. "Would you like to come on board Mr Compton?"

"I'd be fascinated!" he said.

I stepped aboard the stern and opened the rear doors into the cockpit. The main doors were about four feet ahead with a padlock securing them to the hatch above. I pulled out my keys and opened the padlock sliding back the hatch to reveal four steps down into the rear cabin. "Follow me" I said, turning around and taking hold of the handle set into the door of the locker next to the steps. I hopped down the steps into the rear cabin and set off forward through the boat.

The rear cabin was tiny, with two single beds on either side and housed the rear locker and the boiler for the central heating, I used it for storage. Moving forward there was a small toilet and sink then the larger, main cabin containing a double bed and more storage lockers. Forward of this was a self contained bathroom with another toilet, sink and a shower. Then came a small, but well equipped galley style kitchen and finally a sizeable main room containing a small dining table with a couch around two sides, an armchair, a small TV and DVD player and a bookshelf stuffed with books and DVDs from my extensive collection. A pair of double doors opened out onto a small deck at the bow with bench seats on either side. Bill followed me through the narrow corridor which ran the length of the boat silently examining the various cabins with interest.

I sat down in the armchair in the main forward cabin and looked up at him. "Well? What do you think?"

"It's very interesting" said Bill.

"She" I corrected "She's very interesting."

"It's a she?" he asked with a smile.

"Oh definitely" I replied "boats are always female!"

"May I ask where you think I…?"

"Oh yes!" I jumped up "I need you to take a look at this, if you think it's not suitable then we have time to get back before dawn."

We returned to the main sleeping cabin and I pointed to the double bed which was about two feet high set on a wooden base. It was enclosed on three sides, by the hull of the boat on one side and by storage cupboards at the top and bottom.

"Underneath the mattress is a wooden cover over an empty space." I said. "There's never enough storage space on narrowboats so you need all you can get!"

I pulled off the pillows and the quilt and Bill picked up the mattress, moving it to the corridor by the bathroom. He lifted up the wooden cover revealing a sizeable space underneath.

"Hmmm," he said thoughtfully "Plenty of room certainly."

"I thought you could have the mattresses off the two single beds in the rear cabin in there? What do you think?"

He knelt down and examined the join at the outer edge.

"With the quilt hanging down over the side it should be sufficiently light tight, but I could always take a little duct tape in to cover any gaps…..yes, it should be fine."

"Right then, let's get the bags from the car shall we?" I said. We worked as a team, Bill fetching the bags and boxes from my car and putting them in the rear cockpit, from where I took them into the boat and stowed the contents away. Bill then moved my car into the small car park attached to the marina and came back on board. By the time I had everything arranged to my satisfaction it was almost dawn and Bill had moved the two single mattresses from the rear cabin into the big storage locker under the bed. He had fixed a long strip of tape along the outer edge of the wooden cover so that when it was shut it sealed the tiny gap.

"Right then, I need to get in here" he said, looking at his watch, "first let me put the mattress back then I can lift the cover with the mattress on top. That will save you having to lift it back on yourself." He explained. He leaned forward and gave me a brief kiss. "See you at dusk!" he said, and climbed in pulling the cover back down after him. I heard him shifting about a little. "Very comfortable" came a muffled voice.

"See you later then." I said and headed forward to the main cabin.

I put the kettle on and made myself a cup of tea, then sat outside on the front deck watching the sun come up. After a while I decided that it was time to make a move. I hadn't mentioned this part of my plan to Bill and I hoped that I would not disturb him. I climbed back up into the cockpit and removed the engine cover to check the oil, then I tapped at the fuel gauge. Everything seemed to be fine so I put the key in the ignition and started up the engine. Lady Eleanor gave a shudder as the engine fired and then caught and I reached into the stern locker for the tiller pole and fastened it on with the pin. Then I untied the bow and stern ropes and pushed the gear lever gently forward. Carefully manoeuvring the boat out of the little marina I set off onto the waterways with my precious cargo.

Hours later I was curled up in the armchair reading when I heard movement in the bedroom and a moment later Bill came into the forward cabin.

"Well hello!" I said. "Were you comfortable?"

"Very" he replied, going over to the window, "but I could have sworn I felt...movement..." his voice tailed off as he looked out with a puzzled expression. "Wait a minute...where are we?" He opened the double doors and climbed out onto the front deck. I followed him with a small smile on my face.

Lady Eleanor was tied up securely to the bank under a stand of trees. On our side of the canal was a small wood and from the opposite bank, fields spread out into the distance. Bill turned to me and asked "Where, exactly, are we?"

"Exactly..." I replied "Well, if you get the map from the cabin table I can show you."

We went back inside the cabin and I opened the map book. "The marina is here" I said pointing it out "and we are..." I turned over two pages "…..here. Just below this bridge, see." Bill glanced out of the open doors and back at the map.

"You've driven the boat all that way today, while I slept?" he asked.

"It's not really that far!" I laughed. "Anyway, its not the distance that matters, it's the number of locks."

"Locks?" he asked, looking completely blank.

"Yes look, see these little v shaped marks on the map?" I explained "each one represents a lock to move the boat up or downhill. Like that one." I pointed directly ahead of the boat to where there was an arched bridge. On the other side of the bridge the ground rose up on either side of the canal which appeared to be closed off by two brick walls with a pair of tall gates between them. "In the morning, if I want to go further up the canal, I'll have to go up there and open the gates, then drive the boat into the lock. It's not easy as the lock is only a little longer and wider than the boat, Lady Eleanor is nearly the maximum length. Then I climb out, close the bottom gates and open the sluices in the top gates to fill the lock up with water from higher up. When the lock is full and the boat is raised up to the top level, I open the top gates, close the sluices and drive the boat out again." I grinned at him "To go downhill you just do all that in reverse."

Bill stared at me for a moment and then looked back at the map. "And you have passed through, three, four..." he turned a page "...six of these today? Alone?"

"That's not many really" I said, enjoying his surprise "I can do twenty or so in a day if I'm really in a hurry and the sluices are not too stiff."

Bill sat down on the end of the little couch and gazed at me in surprise. "See" I said "I have many talents that you don't know about!"

"You certainly have!" he said smiling. "You seem very comfortable here. How long have you owned her?"

I took a bottle of white wine from the fridge and poured myself a glass.

"A few years now, before that she belonged to a group, a society in a company I used to work for in London" I explained. "She's getting a little old now and they wanted to get a new boat. I'd come into some money from a relative and I was able to buy her."

"Why have you never told me about her before?" he asked curiously.

"I've never told anyone about her before" I said "She's my secret, my refuge from the world." I paused for a moment. "Anyway, I didn't think that it was really something that I could share with you. You can't navigate on the waterways after dark. It's not like there are street lights out here! I know you…..you'd have me driving the boat all day and making love all night!"

"Sounds good to me!" said Bill happily, "how about…we stay here, you sleep all day with me and we make love all night?"

I laughed "Don't you ever think about anything else?"

"Occasionally." he admitted "But not when you're around." He smiled "So, are we alone out here?"

"There are usually a few bats" I said "The occasional owl, but other than that...yes"

I opened the doors and went out onto the front deck, Bill followed me and we sat down on the bench seat. I took a sip of my wine "Well, what do you think?" I asked. Bill leaned back against the hull and looked up at the stars, "Peace and quiet, moonlight, no reporters, what more could I want?" He reached over and lifted me into his lap "Oh yes...there is just one more thing!"

As we sat together in the darkness there was a slight rustle and a great shadow passed over us. Bill looked up startled and instinctively held me tighter to him. I laughed. "Gwenhwyfar!" I said, "The White Spirit!" Bill stared at me, wide-eyed. "It was a Barn Owl...the White Owl...!" I giggled, "don't panic!" We looked out over the field where the owl was swooping down after an unwary field mouse.

"What was that you called it?" he asked.

"Gwenhwyfar" I said "It's Welsh. It means literally "White Ghost or Spirit" but it's used for the Barn Owl because it's white."

"She's beautiful." he said, watching the owl sweep away across the fields, "and so silent."

"She's a very effective night hunter." I said looking him deliberately in the eye.

"Yes, I imagine so." he sighed "I've not spent time in the countryside for quite a while now, not in this country."

I got up rather stiffly and stretched my arms up. "Ouch!"

"Are you all right?" asked Bill, concerned.

"Oh yes!" I said "Just a bit stiff, some of those locks were hard work you know."

"Let's see if I can help you relax." he said picking me up and carrying me back into the boat. He managed to carry me down the narrow corridor to the cabin and put me down gently on the bed. "Now then, let's see". He tugged my sweater out of my jeans and eased it off over my head, then reached around me to unhook my bra. As I slipped my arms out of the straps Bill climbed up onto the bed and leaned forward to kiss my breasts, curling his tongue around the nipples. I watched him with a smile.

"Ah...sorry," he said, looking up at me apologetically "I got a little distracted there!"

"Don't apologise" I replied "it's very relaxing."

He laughed "But that wasn't what I had in mind" he said "at least...not immediately." His lip curled up in a tiny smile as his hands moved down to unbutton my jeans. He carefully removed them and my panties and ran his hands down my legs to my feet, smiling at the sight of my fluffy pink socks. He took me in his arms and laid me down on the soft quilt on my stomach. Then he reached up to the shelf over the bed and picked up my bottle of coconut body lotion, poured some into his hands and began to rub it into my skin. His long fingers gripped my shoulders as his thumbs rubbed firmly into the base of my neck, easing the knots in my aching muscles. He gradually worked his way down my back, rubbing little circles in my flesh with his thumbs and I felt myself melting under his firm, but gentle touch.

"Feeling any better?" he asked softly, as his hands moved down to curl around my bottom.

"Mmmm...much more relaxed." I murmured.

Bill began moving his hands up and down my back, his thumbs rubbing on either side of my spine moving gradually down towards my buttocks. I had thought that I was too tired to do anything other than fall asleep, but Bill evidently had other ideas. If he carried on like this then soon I would be too relaxed to move at all. It occurred to me that I was completely alone, miles from anywhere, at the mercy of Bill's insatiable appetites. Hmmm….I decided not to think about this.

By this time his hands were moving rhythmically over my bottom and thighs, kneading the stiff muscles in my legs, his long fingers trailing upwards slightly further with each stroke. I began to lift my bottom up a little each time, encouraging him to explore further between my legs. He slipped out of his clothes and climbed up onto the bed kneeling astride my body and rubbing his hands up and down my back and legs. After a few more minutes of his teasing touch I was moaning softly into the pillow and had come to the conclusion that a little insatiable appetite might not be such a bad thing after all!

The tips of his fingers were moving over my slick, wet opening and I arched my back, inviting them in.

"Oh, please Bill….!" I whispered.

Bill took pity on me and obliged, sliding two fingers into me and rubbing gently inside me. I relaxed completely and lay on my stomach enjoying the delicious sensation of Bill's skilled fingers stroking me as he slid his other hand around my waist and eased the fingers of this hand between my wet lips and began stroking me from this side as well. Soon I began to feel a hot sensation building inside me and Bill, sensing this through our new blood bond, rolled me gently onto my back and leaned over me. He smiled down at me and placed his soft lips on mine and kissed me tenderly.

"Now, what shall I do with you?" he asked.

I lifted my head for another kiss and Bill put his arm around my waist and pulled me close to him, kissing me harder, more passionately. I ran my hand down his back to his firm buttocks and pulled him closer, wrapping one leg around his waist, making it obvious what I wanted him to do with me. I could feel his substantial erection nudging between my legs and a slight shift of my weight was enough to bring the swollen head into my wet opening. Bill didn't need any further encouragement but entered me, gently and slowly, rocking his hips as he eased himself deeper inside. I lay back on the bed, dazed with a combination of exhaustion and pleasure as Bill's cool tongue explored between my lips and trailed down my neck to the hollow of my throat.

I began to feel a slightly disorienting sensation and opened my eyes only to realise that Bill's smooth movements were causing the boat to rock gently at her moorings. Between Bill's movement and the rocking of the boat I began to feel as though I were drifting away and I clung tightly to Bill as if to hold myself in place. Bill sighed in response and began to lick gently at the base of my throat, the bond between us telling him that I was close to the edge. He shifted his weight a little and the slight alteration of the angle of his thrusts sent me into a convulsion of pleasure and, as he felt the rhythmic contractions of my body around him he sank his fangs into my throat, the taste of my blood, as always, driving him to his own climax.

* * *

I sat in the bows of the boat with a bottle of Tru Blood in my hand. Alex had fallen asleep in my arms and I had carefully wrapped the quilt around her and left her sleeping peacefully. I sat for a while thinking about all that she had done for me. I thought back to the moment when I saw the gunman raise his arm towards her and I had stepped between them. The woman interviewer had asked a good question. Why had I done that?

After some consideration I concluded that what I had said to her was correct. I simply hadn't thought about it! But why? The only other person that I had ever even considered taking such a risk for was Sookie, and that hadn't worked out too well had it? You'd think I'd have learned my lesson by now. Sookie had simply taken my action as her right, she had given no indication that she thought she owed me anything, hadn't even visited until Sam told her she should. The more I thought about it the more I realised that she had always acted this way. Assumed that I would always be there to take care of her, and she was right wasn't she. I always had.

I sat up and took a swig from the bottle. Perhaps I wasn't being entirely fair. After the episode in Jackson she was right to assume that I owed her. My mind drifted back to the horror of that night. Waking to find her lying half dead in my arms. I had spent so many fruitless hours since then trying to recall what exactly had happened. I could remember the old stable block in the grounds of Russell Edgington's mansion, the searing agony of Lorena's torture and possibly...seeing Sookie come in to join me in that terrible place. At the time I had thought I was hallucinating. But after that...nothing.

I shook my head as if trying to dislodge the terrible memories of my past. After leaving Bon Temps I had travelled extensively in both America and Europe, eventually settling in England, but I had almost reverted to living as I had before the Revelation, in secret, hiding even from my own kind, who eventually concluded that I had met the true death. But I had always liked to be amongst humans, even though they didn't know who, or what I was, I still liked to walk in crowded places, watch people, hear their voices. Then came that day when I had seen the girl in the bookshop. Stretching up for a book she clearly couldn't reach. I hadn't intended to scare her but when she fell back into my arms with a frightened squeak I knew immediately what she was, and I realised with a shock that she also recognised me for what I was! The only thing I could think of in that moment was that she had the fae blood which could heal me...and she was leaving, I might never find her again.

Not following her out of the bookshop was the hardest thing I had ever done. What she had said to me in the hotel room in Amsterdam was quite true. I could so easily have followed her, tracked her and simply, brutally, taken what I needed from her. But to do so would have finally turned me into that monster that Lorena had tried so hard to create. I would rather have died than do that. So I simply stood in the doorway and watched her. And, by some miracle, she had the courage to stop and wait for me. To talk to me, get to know me and although my intentions at first were purely selfish I found that as I got to know her I began to truly love her, her courage, her honesty, her innocence and most of all her generosity of spirit. Being with her made me realise that I wanted to live in the world again, that I was tired of hiding.

I had been determined to be honest with her, brutally honest, no matter how uncomfortable it was for me. I was so glad now that I had. I was sure that Charles would not have tried to stop her from giving me her blood while I was unconscious. For that to happen a second time would have been too much to bear. I had to smile at the thought of her confronting Charles, threatening him even...she had some guts!Perhaps if I had been honest with Sookie from the start then Eric wouldn't have been able to step in with his information and come between us. But somehow, deep down, I knew that if I had, she would have had nothing to do with me from the start. She would simply have flounced off in a rage, as she had on other occasions, but this time she wouldn't have come back.

I heard a slight sound and turned to watch the White Owl, Gwenhwyfar, sweep back up the field and over the boat into the woods, then stood up and went back into the cabin, draining the bottle and putting it in the tiny sink. I edged quietly down the corridor to where Alex lay, worn out by a combination of bringing her boat to this beautiful place and our lovemaking, fast asleep, on the compact bed. She was lying on her back, her long black hair spread out on the pillow, one foot poking out from under the quilt. I smiled to see that she had put the fluffy pink socks back on and caught myself wondering idly if she had put on anything else. I could feel through the bond that she was sleeping peacefully, as if her consciousness was resting quietly in a corner of my soul.

Getting a grip on myself, I gently pulled the quilt over and tucked her foot inside. Dawn was coming and I wondered if I could slip into the storage space without waking her. As I watched her she stirred in her sleep and rolled over until she was tucked up against the hull of the boat, on the far side of the bed. I took the opportunity to gently lift up the edge of the mattress and slide myself inside. As I made myself comfortable I heard her shift in her sleep and move back. As I lay in the darkness listening to her soft breathing I realised the answer to my question. I had stepped in front of the gunman because I knew that my life simply would not be the same, would mean so much less, without her.

* * *

Bill and I had spent a couple of days and nights on Lady Eleanor. As I had suspected, I spent most of my days sleeping and my nights making love. On one particularly clear night with a full moon Bill helped me move the boat a few miles up the canal, closer to a village where I would be able to get milk and bread. All Bill appeared to need was me. Then one night Bill's cellphone rang. He looked at the screen and sighed, "Charles" he said. He listened in silence for a few moments. "All right, fine. You'll send the car for us?" He glanced over at me, "hold on a moment!"

"Alex, do you need to get the boat back to the marina? How long will it take?" he asked with one hand over the cellphone.

I thought for a moment "We could leave her here" I said "We can carry our bags down the towpath to the village and get a taxi. It's not far."

Bill spoke into the phone again, "yes, that's fine, we'll see you then."

"Well, that looks like the end of our little holiday!" he said, putting the phone back in his pocket. "Shame really, I was just starting to get the hang of it!"

"Some other time perhaps" I laughed.

"Wait a moment!" said Bill suddenly, turning to look at me. "I thought you got seasick?"

"Oh don't be silly!" I said "You can't get seasick on a canal, there's almost no movement at all!" I slid my hand into his shirt and stroked the soft hair on his chest, "well...not unless you start getting excitable! I laughed and jumped away before he could grab me. "Come on, we'd best be making a move hadn't we?"

A few hours later we were at the junction at the bottom of the hill from Bill's house. We had picked up Bill's car from my house, put the luggage in the back and headed back to his place in the Aston Martin. As we approached the junction I automatically looked down the main road for approaching traffic and saw a familiar silver BMW approaching. "Oh no!" I said "It's him again, that guy who yelled at me the other day!

"Oh really!" said Bill and promptly pulled out in front of him. Sure enough the BMW came flying around Bill's Aston Martin and pulled up in front of him, blocking the road. "Excellent" murmured Bill with an evil little smile "let's see how he gets on this time shall we?"

The man got out of his car, slammed the door, and approached Bill's car. He saw me through the windscreen and stopped. "You again!" he yelled. Bill opened his door and got out of the car calmly. "Brought your boyfriend this time huh?" He approached my side of the car waving his finger in the air.

"I was driving, not her." said Bill mildly.

The man glared at him and started around to his side of the car. "Was I speaking to you?" he asked sarcastically. He was a big guy and obviously used to being able to intimidate people with his size, he certainly scared me, but if he thought he was going to intimidate Bill he was very much mistaken! He stalked up to Bill and began poking him in the chest with a finger. "You keep out of it! It's her I have the problem with. I'm not listening to you!"

There was a blur of movement and a muffled cry and suddenly Bill was holding the man by one arm, his right hand pulling his head back by the hair. His feet had been kicked out from under him bringing his face down close to Bill's. Bill's fangs were fully extended and he spoke quietly and calmly into Mr BMW's ear. "Are you listening now?" he asked.

Several other cars had now stopped and people were watching, horrified. However, no-one made any move to intervene.

"You do not have a problem with her." said Bill quietly "In fact, if I ever catch you within 100 yards of her again I will rip out your guts with my bare hands and make you eat them! Do you understand?" Somehow, Bill's calm, conversational tone made the threat sound even worse as it was quite obvious that he meant it, literally. "Do...you...understand?" he asked again, slowly and carefully, as if to a child.

"Yes, yes okay!" Bill let go and the man fell to his knees in the road as Bill calmly got back into the car, manoeuvred around the BMW, and drove off.

"Well, that was quite satisfying, but do you think it was a good idea?" I asked. "With your position as Sheriff to think about?"

"He started it" Bill pointed out reasonably. "Anyway, he wasn't hurt, I just threatened him a little. Besides….." he turned and smiled at me "once he gets back into his car he won't remember me."

"Oh great!" I said "How about me? will he remember me?"

"Only enough to stay away." Said Bill in a satisfied tone of voice.

"First let's have a look at the footage that was taken at the time shall we?"

The presenter's voice came in clearly through loudspeakers set into the walls on either side of a large screen showing the studio. I was in the "green room" at the Television Studios where Bill and Charles were making an appearance on "Late Night Talk" with "Pete and Susie" whoever they were! I was not really au fait with the latest talk show hosts. However, they appeared to be doing well tonight! The studio was packed full to bursting point and half a dozen more people were crammed into the green room with me.

There were five armchairs on the stage. The fifth chair being occupied by the Reverend Stuart Nelson, a representative of the Fellowship of the Sun. When Bill heard this he nearly walked straight back out and had to be restrained by Charles who argued with him for about ten minutes before finally persuading him to stay. Apparently Bill had had dealings with the Fellowship in the US and hadn't been impressed, to say the least.

The large TV screen behind the interviewer came to life and I sat up and stared at the images. I had never seen this footage before and I watched, fascinated, as Charles' car drew up outside the courtroom and Charles, Bill, Marcus and I got out and began to walk towards the camera. Charles moved up to speak to the reporter who was standing next to the camera and it focussed in on him for a moment. Bill and I were both out of shot until Charles waved me over and introduced me. Bill was standing further back talking to Gerry, who had just got out of the other car.

Watching carefully, I noticed the moment when I looked around for Bill and saw the man in the crowd move forward. The camera was still focussed on Charles, with Marcus at his side when suddenly, horrifically, there was the sharp crack of a gunshot and Marcus simply dissolved in a fountain of blood.

There were a few gasps from the studio audience, but most of them must have been expecting it. For a few moments there were simply blurred images as the cameraman recovered from the shock and tried to refocus. Then it moved to me. The camera was behind me now as I had turned away, shooting over my shoulder as I was looking into the crowd and right in front of me, clearly in shot, was a man with a gun in his hand. He was just raising his arm when suddenly Bill appeared in front of me. I closed my eyes, unable to bear the sight of the bullets punching into Bill's body, but I guess I must have been the only one. I could hear more gasps from the studio audience and still more from the people in the green room with me.

I opened my eyes and looked around. All eyes were fixed on the screen. I looked back and saw Bill lying motionless on the ground. The camera was trying to focus on him, then Charles and I came into shot, heading for Bill. I watched fascinated as, on the screen, I held up my wrist to Charles and he took my arm and bit me. I was expecting more gasps but instead there was silence as every head in the room turned to stare at me. I kept my eyes fixed on the screen and watched myself kneel down on the ground and take Bill's head in my lap. Charles licked his lips, somewhat ostentatiously I thought, and then joined me.

The next few moments were blurred as the cameraman tried to get into a better position to see what was happening. When the shot focussed again Bill was lying with his head in my lap holding on to my arm with both hands, his mouth clamped tightly to my wrist. Blood was trickling from the corner of his mouth, over his lips and dripping onto my lap.

I took a deep breath and looked around, the people in the green room were looking at me as if I were insane, or worse, as if they pitied me for having been glamoured into doing such a terrible thing.

My nerves were on edge anyway and at this point I lost my temper.

"What?" I said. "You have a problem with that do you?"

There was no response.

"Well? You just watched him deliberately allow himself to get shot in my place and you think I should have just walked away? Left him to die?"

They all looked at each other, not sure how to respond.

"Well….isn't he dead already?" said one girl.

I glared at her. "Well, that has to be the most stupid remark I've heard in a long time!"

I turned back to the screen where Charles had picked me up and was carrying me across the road to the ambulance. Gerry was helping Bill to stagger to his feet. I noticed that his lips were stained red with my blood and a trickle ran down his chin and had dripped onto his chest to join the smear of his own. The cameraman focussed on Bill and we could clearly see that the ragged wounds in his side where the bullets had penetrated his flesh were healing as we watched.

The camera continued to track him as, with the help of Gerry, he made his way over to the ambulance where I sat wrapped in a blanket, looking a little weak but obviously okay, and sat down beside me taking me in his arms and pulling me to him for a gentle kiss.

At this point the camera was obviously shut down and the screen went blank.

There was silence both in the green room and out in the studio, while people absorbed what they had just seen.

The screen in the green room came to life again, showing the scene in the studio.

"Well Reverend?" said Pete "Perhaps you would like to give us your opinion of what we just saw?"

"I don't know what you saw." He said "but I just watched a young woman being drained by a vampire!"

There was a chorus of groans from the studio audience, I got the impression that the Reverend's view was in the minority.

Pete just grinned, a bit of controversy is all these people want really.

"How about you Mr Montague" he asked "what did you see?"

"You'll appreciate that I didn't see anything at the time" said Charles, calmly. "I was too busy wiping the blood of my bodyguard out of my eyes!" he turned to the camera, "My friend, who had just been shot and killed in front of me for no reason by some vampire-hating lunatic!" he paused for a moment. "However, watching the video just now, I saw a vampire save a woman's life by taking half a dozen bullets which were meant for her. She then saved his by generously giving him her blood to enable him to heal himself."

There was a sudden uproar in the audience and the camera panned across to half a dozen people waving the ubiquitous "Vamps Kill" and "God Hates Fangs" banners. A number of men in dark suits carrying radios appeared and hustled them out of the studio.

When everything had settled down a little the female presenter, Susie, turned to Bill.

"Let's start again shall we. Would you like to tell us something about yourself Mr Compton?"

"Certainly" said Bill, "What would you like to know?"

"Well…..could you tell us about your life before…" she stopped, obviously embarrassed and Bill, ever the gentleman, stepped in to help her out.

"Before I was turned?" he asked with a smile. "I was a farmer. I worked my father's land in Northern Louisiana and when he died I took over the farm with my wife."

"You were married?" she asked, sounding surprised for some reason.

"Yes" said Bill "I was married and had two small children. Then when the War started I joined the Confederate Army. I served in the 28th Louisiana Infantry, formed in Monroe in 1862 under Col. Henry Grey."

"You fought in the American Civil War?" asked Susie.

Bill gave a little smile, "Yes, indeed. We believed in the cause of Southern independence, at least at first. By the end all we had left to believe in was survival."

"Did you keep slaves?" she asked.

"No" he said "When I was a child my father owned a house slave and a yard slave, but I never did."

"And how did it happen. How were you….turned? Can you tell us that?" asked Susie. I noticed that she didn't take her eyes off Bill. She seemed mesmerised by his story.

"It was after the surrender in April 1865" said Bill quietly "I was one of the few in my Company who survived and considered myself to be fortunate, at least I thought so at the time. I was making my way home through the woods alone. I was half starved, you must appreciate that we had received no supplies for many months, and just as I was going to make camp for the night I came to a cottage. I knocked and asked for help. The door was opened by a woman, who took me in and cooked me a meal. She told me that she was the wife of a confederate soldier, but that she had not heard from her husband for a long time. I tried to comfort her, saying that the postal routes had been disrupted by the war, but we both knew that he was probably dead." Bill paused for a moment, seemingly lost in his memories. Then he sighed and sat up. "But unfortunately for me, my charming saviour was not a war widow at all, she was not even, in fact, human."

There was a gasp from the audience as they realised what he meant. He did not need to elaborate any further.

"And she…?"

"Yes." There was a pause as everyone took this in.

"I woke in the upstairs room. I was lying on the bed, weak and faint. I felt as though I was dying…..because in fact I was dying. I turned my head away from her and saw, in the corner of the room, a pile of rotting bodies, all dressed in the dirty, ragged remains of army uniforms. It appeared that I was not the first lost soldier to pass that way, but for some reason, Lorena chose me over the others."

"Lorena?"

"Her name was Lorena Kryseki."

"Was?" asked Susie.

"She has met the true death." said Bill

"Oh, I'm sorry" said Susie.

Bill gave a short laugh. "Don't be" he said "I wasn't!"

Susie looked shocked at this. "But she was your "maker" wasn't she? I thought that vampires were very loyal to their makers?"

"Some are" said Bill "It depends on the circumstances. I was taken completely against my will. She tore me away from my human life, from my wife and children, she stole my humanity and turned me into a monster. You think I should show her loyalty for that?"

There was silence in the studio as everyone tried to take in the reality of Bill's situation. A farmer, a soldier, a husband and father snatched out of his life forever. It seemed that what I had always imagined, was in fact true. People conveniently forgot that vampires were all once human, they never thought about who they had been, only what they had become.

"Do you consider yourself to be a monster Mr Compton?" asked Pete.

The reverend gentleman sniggered loudly at this. He evidently did!

Bill smiled gently "I try very hard not to be and I think that, most of the time at least, I succeed." There was a little ripple of laughter from the audience.

"But you disagree Reverend?" asked Pete turning to Stuart Nelson.

"I certainly do! These creatures are unholy monsters who have cheated death and who survive on the blood of the living!"

"That's not true!" said Charles quickly "The production of synthetic blood has meant..."

"But we just saw it!" interrupted Nelson waving his hand at the screen "Your colleague here was filmed drinking that young woman's blood!"

"That was under highly unusual circumstances!" snapped Charles "and it wouldn't have been necessary if he hadn't been shot by your colleagues! Who, incidentally, were attempting to shoot her!"

Nelson had no immediate answer to this. He began to bluster a little, pointing out that the Warriors of Ra had nothing to do with his Church and that he didn't approve of their actions.

"So are you trying to say that your "Fellowship" doesn't approve of killing vampires?" asked Charles curiously. "Because you'd never know that from some of the detailed instructions provided on your website! I believe it recommends the use of bullets just like those which killed my friend Marcus and almost killed Bill."

Pete turned to Nelson with a questioning smile. "Is that correct Reverend?" he asked.

"I have no control over what our supporters post on our website" said Nelson in a self-righteous tone. "But they evidently feel that the killing of vampires is necessary to protect themselves, to protect the human race."

"In what way would killing Miss Morgan protect them?" asked Bill coldly. "Why, exactly did she deserve to die? Simply because she knew me, because she was brave enough to get to know me and make up her own mind about us rather than listen uncritically to your sanctimonious rhetoric?"

"Of course I don't condone their action with regard to Miss Morgan, but I am aware that some people consider humans who...associate with vampires in the same light as collaborators in wartime. That they have betrayed their own kind."

"Forgive me" said Bill, "I wasn't aware that we were at war."

"We will always be at war!" snarled Nelson. He turned to the camera "These creatures are inhuman monsters who should not be permitted to associate with humans. As The Reverend Newlin said, we should never have given them the vote and legitimised their unholy existence! They are all dangerous to humans and they only need us to satisfy their unholy lusts!"

Bill blinked and raised an eyebrow, turning to look at the reverend. "Really?" he asked mildly, to a ripple of laughter from the studio audience.

I have to admit to feeling a little twinge of unease. Although I knew that Bill would never harm me I wasn't so sure about other people. In fact, especially after the incident with Mr BMW, I was beginning to realise that, if anyone were to threaten me directly, then he would probably kill them without a second thought. Charles, I knew to be a genuine, cold hearted, monster. We were just fortunate that, at the moment, we fitted in with his plans. I had no doubt, however, that the moment I ceased to be useful, he would consider me to be disposable.

Bill's startling beauty and gentle charm had begun to win over the audience. Together with the fact that he was totally innocent in this case. I reminded myself sternly that we were in the right here. The reverend's friends had threatened me with rape and tried to kill me. If the warriors had caught me that night in Bill's house I dreaded to think what they might have done or, come to think of it, what Bill might have done had he caught them. They had tried to shoot me and had succeeded in shooting Bill.

At this point Pete decided that he should take charge again. "So," he said, "going back to what we just watched in the video. Did you know that the bullets were silver Mr Compton?"

"I had no idea what they were made of" said Bill

"But you'd just seen Mr Montague's bodyguard...well...totally destroyed by one bullet!"

"I didn't see that," Bill explained "I wasn't looking in that direction. I just saw the gunman raise his hand towards Miss Morgan."

"So you had no idea what the bullets were made of?" Pete asked.

"I only knew that if they hit Miss Morgan she would certainly be killed." said Bill "It was far more likely that I would survive."

"But surely it was quite possible that what happened to...er..."

"Marcus!" supplied Charles irritably.

"...what happened to Marcus, could have happened to you as well?" asked Susie.

"Yes." Bill answered turning to her.

"Then why did you do it?"

Bill paused and looked down for a moment. Then he seemed to come to a decision and looked back up at the camera. "Because I love her." he said simply.

For a moment there was complete silence in the studio, even Reverend Nelson seemed lost for words. Then the audience appeared to wake up and a low murmuring started up.

"Nonsense!" said Nelson briskly, "everyone knows these creatures aren't capable of love."

I was amazed at the restraint both Bill and Charles were showing. In fact I could think of several humans I knew who would have given the Reverend a good smack around the ear by now!

"Do they?" asked Charles. "How could anyone know such a thing?"

The camera panned towards a section of the audience where a loud argument had broken out between a couple who were evidently vampires, who were supporting Bill's case and some members of the Fellowship.

"Why would you think that?" asked Bill, sounding genuinely curious. "Do you think that we can't recall our human lives? I assure you we can!" He glanced at Charles for a moment, perhaps unsure that Charles actually could. "I loved my wife and my children, I remember what that felt like. Believe me, what I feel for Alex is the same thing!"

"What about you Mr Montague?" asked Pete turning to Charles.

Charles smiled. "Well" he said "I am very much older. Almost three thousand years." There was a pause while we tried to take this in. "I have to admit that I can barely recall what it was like to be human but I have feelings believe me! Marcus was a very dear friend and I was devastated to lose him. Although I wouldn't say I actually loved him!" There was another ripple of laughter at this.

I stared at the image on the screen of Charles, sitting in the armchair looking relaxed in his tailored suit, and tried to imagine who he had been in life. I realised that I didn't have the slightest idea.

I spotted someone to the rear of the studio waving his hand in a circular motion at the two hosts and guessed that it was a signal to wrap up the show.

"Well" said Pete. "This has been a most interesting discussion. I'm sure we'll have a lot of feedback on this subject. Please let us know your opinions by e-mailing us at the usual address. We look forward to seeing you all next week with another topical discussion. Good night everyone!" Pete and Susie waved to the cameras as the closing music began and, as the red light went off over the main camera they got up and Susie went over to Bill and held out her hand. "It's been a pleasure to meet you Mr Compton" she said.

Bill took her hand and raised it to his lips. "The pleasure was all mine I assure you." he said smiling. I smiled too, damn he was smooth!

The screen in the green room shut down at this point and a moment later the door opened and Bill came in followed by Charles. Bill came over and gave me a hug, "How do you think it went?" he asked.

"Pretty well I'd say" I answered "I think the audience were on your side, at least the non-fellowship part. Personally I felt that the Reverend made a complete ass of himself!" Bill and Charles both laughed and so, rather to my surprise, did a few of my green room companions, including the girl who had assumed that, since Bill was dead already, it didn't much matter that he had been shot. Seeing him in the flesh had evidently changed her mind!

After shaking hands with what seemed like every producer and director in the building we finally found ourselves at the entrance to the studios and headed for the car which Charles had arranged to take us to our hotel. Bill had booked us into one of the latest vampire-friendly hotels in the capital. We drew up at the main doors and said goodbye to Charles, who had a house in London and was returning there. "Well done Bill" he said seriously "We did a good job there tonight, one which will be of great value to our cause and I have no illusions that I could have done it without you." Bill smiled slightly and thanked him, then we headed into the hotel.

After checking in we made our way to the elevators, our room was on the tenth floor and the elevator was empty. No sooner had the doors swished shut than Bill snatched me up in his arms and began kissing me ravenously, pushing me up against the velvet wall of the elevator. "Oh, I am so relieved that's over!" he said releasing me.

"I was quite enjoying it actually!" I said.

"The interview!"

I laughed. "Well, you've done it now" I said, "You're famous!"

He looked at me seriously for a moment "Are you sure you're okay with this?" he asked.

"It's a bit late for that now isn't it?"

He sighed "You know I never wanted you to get involved..."

"I got myself involved. It wasn't your fault. Besides, I never thought that being with you would be easy."

He took my face between his hands. "Then why did you do it?" he asked.

I reached up to kiss him and laid my head on his shoulder. "For the same reason you gave tonight, in front of an audience of thousands." I breathed into his ear. "Because I love you."

He had just wrapped his arms around my waist and begun kissing me again when there was a hiss and the elevator doors opened. I pulled back from him, embarrassed as three more people got in. Bill just grinned at me and hugged me to him. I tried to move away again, but he held me tight in front of him and as I was pressed up against him I realised why! I gave a little giggle as the elevator started up again and wriggled in his arms.

He bent down and kissed my ear. "Stop that you little hussy!" he whispered.

"What?" I asked innocently giving another little wriggle.

"That!" he muttered "I'll never make it to the room at this rate!"

The elevator stopped at the ninth floor and, fortunately for us, all three other passengers got out.

"Got the key?" I asked.

"It's in my pocket"

"Wow! You mean there's room for something else in there?"

Bill gave me a sly smile "Like to try and get it out?"

I slipped my hand into his pocket and tried to wriggle my fingers down to grasp the square of plastic. Bill flung his head back against the velvet wall and moaned.

"Bad idea!" he muttered from between clenched teeth.

"Just a second." I gave another little wriggle with my fingers, completely unnecessary actually, but fun! "Got it!"

The elevator doors opened, there was a rush of air and suddenly I was in front of a door.

"Key" groaned Bill "Quickly!"

I put the little plastic key in the slot and a green light came on. The next thing I knew I was flat on my back on a king sized bed and Bill was crouched over me with his fangs out.

"Now then madam" he said gazing down at me with a determined look in his eye. "So, you love me do you?"

"I'm afraid so Mr Compton." I smiled up at him "I couldn't help myself. I've just got this thing about celebrities!"

"Care to demonstrate for me?" he asked.

So I did.


End file.
